Two US firefighters shot dead by convicted felon in arson 'trap'

NEW YORK (AFP) - A convicted felon shot dead two firefighters and wounded two others on Monday after luring them to a blaze that police said he had apparently set as a trap in a small town in New York state. The 62-year-old shooter - who was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 17 years for his grandmother's death in 1980 - then fatally shot himself in the head, said police in Webster, on the shores of Lake Ontario. The incident, which comes as debate rages in the United States about gun control following the Newtown school massacre earlier this month, happened shortly before 6am (7pm, Singapore time) in a small lakefront residential community. "It does appear that it was a trap that was set for our first responders," Webster police chief Gerald Pickering told a press conference, his voice breaking with emotion.